Hello, and please help! This is my first trip to this website. A friend gave me his 1988 Maxima this week, and I have a steering question. This car has 221,500 miles, and has been well maintained. When I steer left or right around turns, the steering wheel wants to tug back towards the center, as if the tires are trying to straighten out. You can feel a good tug on the steering wheel. It is fine on straight roads. The tires are properly inflated and seem to be in alignment, it has a new power steering pump and plenty of ps fluid, and a new front axle. The auto parts store said that it might be a stuck valve in the rack and pinion setup, and that a special ps fluid with a certain additive might unstick it and return it to normal. Or, it might be a worn out something with the rack and pinion steering itself. Any ideas ? Jim

 

Jim,
I had the issue with my 86 SE. I replaced the PS pump first, and the lines from the reservoir to the pump and the pump to the rack. Since the problem still persisted, I changed the rack. A remanufactured rack cost me 169.00. De-install and re-install will kill you. It will taker a shop 4-5 hours to get it done. That'll run anywhere from 300 to 500 in just labor. It did solve the problem though.

 

 

Thanks, I checked with my locals, and they want about $350 - $400 for the whole deal. They did cut me a deal, if only I had the money !
Thanks again, Jim